hankyoreh

A group of reformist Korean lawmakers urged the government to suspend free trade negotiations with the United States, threatening to vote against the ratification of the pact.

"The South Korean government is ready to make hasty decisions, but we are ready to fight and reject the ratification of the FTA," said 32 lawmakers, mostly from the ruling Uri Party and progressive opposition Democratic Labor Party, in a joint news conference.

"President Roh Moo-hyun said South Korea and the U.S. should work toward reaching a balanced agreement that benefits both countries. But so far, there are no signs of an equal accord being struck."

The lawmakers echoed claims by South Korean farmers and laborers that the free trade pact would threaten their livelihoods.

When the latest round free trade talks, the sixth, were held in Seoul in mid-January, members of the Democratic Labor Party fasted for several days. A seventh session is scheduled for Feb. 11-14 in Washington.

The lawmakers pointed out that the South Korean government is considering a comprehensive "package deal" with the U.S. behind closed doors.

"The government is planning to go in on a secret deal in high-level negotiations, which will threaten its own people's livelihood and drive its economy towards bankruptcy," the lawmakers stated.

Negotiators from the two countries are racing against time since U.S. President George W. Bush's "fast-track" trade promotion authority expires on July 1. Under that authority, Bush can submit a deal by April 2 for an official 90-day congressional review, which can be approved by a simple yes-or-no vote without amendments. The deal also requires ratification by South Korea's National Assembly.

The lawmakers also noted that the Korean negotiators have so far failed to win a U.S. concession on one of their key demands: the inclusion of goods produced in an inter-Korean joint industrial complex in North Korea.

"Inclusion of the Kaesong products in the Korea-U.S. FTA is not likely to happen due to the objection of the U.S. Congress," they said. "Furthermore, the U.S. negotiators are sticking to the existing procedures of U.S. trade remedies," they added.

Seoul wants inter-Korean made products manufactured in North Korea's border city of Kaesong to be included in the FTA agreement, but Washington has rejected the idea.

The Kaesong industrial Complex is a pilot inter-Korean economic venture, in which South Korean businesses use inexpensive North Korean labor to produce goods. Twenty-one South Korean factories employ about 11,160 North Korean workers in Kaesong.

Seoul, Feb. 5 (Yonhap News)